Matt leads the way up the ridge

We did this trek twice this summer and both were great trips.

The first one was a father/daughter team from New York – John and Claire Hardin. It’s always a treat to take out family groups into this remote backcountry region. No people, no worries, I don’t think we even saw any planes fly overhead. If this isn’t quality family time I don’t know what is.

After several days of hiking up, over and around some high ridges the layover day at the base of Pyramid was appreciated by all.

The second group was a full house with five guests and a mixed bag of folks from all over including Canada, New Zealand and New York City. We got a late start due to the weather and it always takes a while to get everyone in to our Canyon Creek starting point since we fly in one at a time in a Super Cub.

So we only hiked for a few hours along Canyon Creek before setting up camp on a gravel bar near the creek. The next day was a bit more strenuous as we made our way up the first ridge of the trip. But this was a strong group and we just motored up the slope. Jeff must have had an extra helping of oatmeal at breakfast because he smoked his way to the top.

Dramatic terrain is everywhere

Everyone agreed that the views from the top were well worth the effort despite the fact that it was a pretty blustery day with a bit of snow clinging to the tundra near the crest.

Camp was made in a nice protected spot along a creek on the other side. Yoav and Vanessa dug a pit and spent about an hour and a half attempting to get some very wet wood to burn. We voted them master fire builders when their prodiguous efforts finally paid off with a sustainable fire which we used to dry out some wet socks.

The view from the shoulder of Andrus was a highlight of the trek thanks to the clear blue skies. We had to be careful on the way down the other side however. The slope was covered in snow which had been really soft when the Hardins came through but now was hard and compact.

For years I’ve been searching for the perfect one person tent and it’s been a long and lonely journey.

First of all I’m a big guy at 6 feet tall and broad at the shoulders. So a lot of solo tents just haven’t worked for me. They were too short or they were long enough but way too narrow at the shoulders and torso. Or they were almost good enough in those areas but too low to sit up for changing clothes. Or they met all my criteria but they were too heavy.

For years I have used a Clip Flashlight from Sierra Designs which is a great tent and has worked very well for me both in the Cascades and the wilds of Alaska, but it could be made much lighter.

This past summer one of the Trek Alaska guides, Matt Tosi, decided, after much consideration and waffling to buy a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 1. I encouraged him to make the purchase as I was curious about it and wanted him to be my beta tester. Honestly I didn’t expect the tent to perform well in the rugged Wrangells and was certain that it would not hold up.

But he got back from his first trek with the tent and he was so sold on it that I ordered one for myself that same day.

The tent is composed of a tent body made entirely of light weight mesh and ultra-light sil-nylon. The fly is all sil-nylon. When you hold this tent in your hands you already want one. It’s super light and takes up half the space of my old Clip Flashlight. But what’s so great about it is how much room you have.

A lot of solo tents are poorly designed with layout that I call the pine box design – they’re the same width all the way down the tent which means there is wasted space below the waist and not enough in the torso and shoulders. That’s what I always like about the Clip Flashlight, an efficient layout. The Seedhouse SL1 gives you just enough room at a fraction of the weight.

A few caveats

You do need to fully guy this tent out or else the inner mesh will make contact with the fly wall and you’ll get condensation dripping through the mesh. When you sit up the high point is perfectly placed so you’re head is right under it. If you are much over 6 feet tall you may find the headroom a bit low however.

But those are about the only negatives I can think of with this tent. My early concerns that the tent seemed very fragile and would not hold up have so far been unfounded. I used it all summer here in Alaska on the very rugged terrain of Wrangell-St. Elias and it held up great! Granted, this tent will likely not last as long as tents made with heavier gauge materials but a somewhat shorter life span is a price worth paying for what I call… the perfect solo tent.